Author: Admin2

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence stands in solidarity with the Women’s March, gun violence prevention advocates, and other allies in condemning the National Rifle Association’s inflammatory and racist attacks on progressive Americans and, in particular, on communities of color.

The NRA’s recent #ClenchedFistOfTruth campaign, video propaganda, and other hateful messages suggest armed violence against peaceful activists. In response, the Women’s March wrote an open letterto the NRA and organized the #NRA2DOJ March, a grassroots mobilization that will take place this Friday, July 14th, to protest the NRA’s dangerous and unconscionable rhetoric and actions.

NYAGV commends the Women’s March for their courageous leadership and encourages participation in the #NRA2DOJ March and solidarity rallies that will take place in Fairfax, Virginia, Washington, D.C., New York City, and around the country.

Please join NYAGV at the NYC Solidarity Rally in Washington Square Park on Friday, July 14th. Meet us at 9:45am at the corner of West 4th & MacDougal St. The rally will begin at 10am!

For more information about the Women’s March from NRA Headquarters to the U.S. Department of Justice, please go HERE.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients of the 2017 ReAction Youth Program Scholarship Award! ReAction is the NYAGV Education Fund’s youth education program to prevent gun violence taught at New York City public high schools.

These students, all seniors attending college in fall 2017, were each awarded $750 scholarships for their outstanding leadership and participation as well as the lessons they took away from the program. All of the 2017 winners graduated from the Leadership and Public Service High School in lower Manhattan.

Luis G. Mendoza, who lives in the Bronx, will be attending New York City College of Technology, where he plans to study computer science. “The ReACTION Program was an eye opener. I was not aware of the serious problems with gun trafficking. I have personally been affected by gun violence. I’ve had a gun pointed at me twice in the past and have two close friends that were affected by gun violence. The ReACTION Program has taught me ways to avoid conflicts with police officers and things I can do to help my neighborhood.”

Sharon Perez, from Brooklyn, is going on to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she’ll study criminology. “I want to make a difference in my neighborhood because where I live there’s a lot of young students and I want to make sure they feel that they have someone they can go to for help, guidance, and most importantly, safety.”

Yazmeen Vargas, from the Lower East Side, will be studying at SUNY Purchase, majoring in playwriting and screenwriting. “I knew the difference between the sound of fireworks and gun shots from the age of seven, and I’ve lost friends to gun violence. At our Albany field trip, I gave a speech about the painful parts of my life, and everyone listened to me, understood me, and connected with me. The legislators said I gave them more motivation to fight for bills to prevent other children from growing up with gun violence. Now I feel that I can have an impact in my community.”

Yesenia Tapia, who lives in Harlem, will be attending LaGuardia Community College, where she’ll study criminal justice. “Being a part of this program has made me realize how important it is for change to occur. This is especially clear after losing a close friend of mine. His life ended due to gun violence and it makes me think his life could’ve had a different path if more voices were out there to share their experiences and change people’s mindsets on how they view gun violence.”

About the ReAction Youth Program: ReAction is the NYAGV Education Fund’s youth program to prevent gun violence serving public high schools across New York City. ReAction educates and empowers young people who are disproportionately impacted by gun violence and guides them to be leaders and activists in their local communities and beyond. For additional information about the ReAction Youth Program, please click here.

As mayor of Malvern, I oversee the police department and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to keep people safe. I don’t ever want to have to pick up the phone and tell someone their loved one has been killed with a gun. I don’t want to have to stand at the funeral of someone whose life was cut far too short.

That’s why I’ve always been a supporter of criminal background checks for every gun sale. It’s why I’ve always been puzzled that Pennsylvania law exempts private sales of rifles, shotguns and military style assault weapons from background checks. Thankfully, there’s a bipartisan bill in the legislature to fix that loophole.

You can help give the background check bill some momentum by calling our state Rep. Duane Milne at (610) 251-1070 and asking him to co-sponsor HB 1400, the background check bill.

Rep. Milne has supported commonsense gun regulations in the past, and he’s voted for the background check bill before. Now we need him to show his support for HB 1400, which already has seven Republican co-sponsors. You live in Rep. Milne’s district if you’re in Malvern, Exton, or the townships of East Whiteland, West Whiteland, West Pikeland, Willistown, Charlestown, or Easttown.

An overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians supports background checks, including supermajorities of Republicans and people in gun-owning households. We know that although handguns are used more often in crimes, long guns are used disproportionately by domestic abusers to kill women and by criminals to kill cops. These are crimes that every mayor worries about, whether we serve in a big city or a small town.

Will you help move the background check bill forward? Please call Rep. Duane Milne’s Malvern office now, while you’re thinking about it, at (610) 251-1070. Tell the staffer who answers that you’re a constituent and you support background checks for every gun sale. Ask that Rep. Milne co-sponsor HB 1400, the background check bill. Then, reply to this email and tell me how it went.

Together, we can move the background check bill forward and make Pennsylvania a safer place.